Dealflow | January 26, 2021

Imperfect Foods scores $95 million investment for ‘ugly’ produce sales

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, January 26 — Imperfect Foods has raised $214.1 million since 2015 to help reduce food waste by redirecting foods deemed too “ugly” for supermarkets. The San Francisco-based company has seen its weekly delivery orders and order size double during the pandemic, reaching more than 400,000 customers.

It raised $95 million in a Series D round led by Northwest Venture Partners and Insight Partners, which also led its $72 million Series C round last May.

Imperfect system

The Atlantic reported in 2019 that Imperfect’s sourcing from large commercial producers, like Dole, risked making ugly-produce companies “an ally of exactly the food system that creates waste and hunger in the first place.”

Imperfect Foods committed to better sourcing transparency and says that 78% of its produce comes from family farms and farming cooperatives that would otherwise take a hit on unsold product; only 3% of its produce comes from corporate farms.